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Prairie Grove Cemetery Chapel

This little white wood-frame church has sat in the Prairie Grove cemetery in Waynedale for at least 150 years. The building, which is located on Old Trail Road in Fort Wayne, Indiana is one of the oldest buildings in the city. It is believed to have been built in 1851 by the United Brethren Church, a denomination that built a lot of rural churches in the midwest during the mid nineteenth century.

The church has been abandoned for many years, but it once hosted regular church services. My grandfather and some friends visited the church as teenagers because the pastor lived in their neighborhood back in the late 1930's. Grandpa told me he was shocked to see his neighbor, the minister, open the services by running through the little chapel screaming and waving his arms. The other churchgoers told grandpa that the pastor was chasing the devil out! Grandpa and his friends left. The devil never dared show up at their churches, so they couldn't imagine why anyone would go to a church that the Devil had to be chased from!

In the 1990s a small non-denominational congregation used the church for a while, then abandoned it. The cemetery maintains the building, but it is no longer used for anything. The last congregation to use the building put the letters in the sign with a statement of faith in the Gospel, but the letters have since fallen off.

In early 2008, vandals set the chapel on fire and caused damage to the area around the pulpit. The back of the building and part of the roof are covered in plywood awaiting possible repairs. I hope that the Prairie Grove Cemetery does repair the little church. They are looking into the costs now.

UPDATE: In November, 2008 a local organization called Deeds of Compassion begun the restoration of the church, starting with replacement of the roof. The old brick chimney on the south side of the church has also been removed. As of the beginning of 2011, the restoration is complete!

I began photographing this place in the late 1990's when I used a photograph of it in my graduation project from art school.

Total Search Results: [ 15 ]

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A mark where a cross once hung on the inside of the dark wood door of an abandoned church.

The old dilapidated outhouse in the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale section of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The old white wooden chapel can be seen in the background and a tree stands next to the outhouse, which is surrounded by fall leaves.

Light streams through the lacy curtains covering the pointed arch windows beside the pulpit in the old white wooden church in the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

An old white church with pointed arch windows behind the wrought iron fence around the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale section of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The letters spelling out the gospel message have fallen off the sign and are laying in a jumbled pile of letters at the bottom of the sign frame next to the front door on the old white church at the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Inside the fire damaged church at the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

An old chair in the back of the little church at the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale section of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Unused light fixture and brick chimney on the outside of the old white church at the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Pointed arch windows next to a brick chimney and a natural gas regulator on the side of the old white wooden church at the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The front door and sign under an arched window on the old white church at the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The sign says Grace Bible Fellowship.

Old lacy curtains on the windows over antique wooden pews inside the old white church at the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

A view from the pulpit looking out over the old wooden pews in the little white wooden church in the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The chapel has pointed arch windows and a single small door in the back of the church. Lacy curtains cover all of the windows.

The pulpit and pews in front of the pointed windows inside the old church in the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The little white church and wrought iron fence at the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The chapel is white clapboard with black arched windows and a brick chimney.

The sign on a little old abandoned white wooden church that says The Gospel - Christ died for our sins, do you believe it? The sign is in a frame with a little shingled roof over it.

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Christopher Crawford
Fine Art Photography

Fort Wayne, IN

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by Christopher Crawford